UNESCO World Heritage Sites… Palau Güell in Barcelona

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photos courtesy of Palau Güell

Palau Güell in Barcelona was constructed between 1886 – 1890 by the legendary architect Antoni Gaudi. It was owned by Catalan industrialist Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi. Guests arrived in horse-drawn carriages when they visited the mansion. Palau Güell became part of UNESCO World Heritage in 1984. Representing a masterpiece of human creative genius. Go visit Palau Güell because it is really unique, a work where the architect had a total creative freedom and unlimited means. And because it is the best way to understand how Gaudí deployed his talent and idees.

KB: Describe tot he RSR readers when and by who Palau Güell was founded?

After losing a lawsuit over the ownership of the Palau Fonollar, on December 31, 1885, Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi acquired several properties adjacent to the house he had inherited from his father on La Rambla, and commissioned Antoni Gaudí to build the Palau. The works began in 1886. The building was inaugurated in 1888 during the Barcelona Universal Exhibition, although it was not completely finished until two years later, in 1890.

KB: Who was Eusebi Güell?

Eusebi Güell Bacigalupi was a Catalan industrialist, politician and intellectual, and one of the richest people in Catalonia and Europe in his time. After studying in Manchester and other European cities, at a young age he took charge of the spinning, weaving and corduroy manufacturing industries that his father, Joan Güell Ferrer, had set up. Married to the daughter of Antonio López, years later Marquis of Comillas, he added to the textile business important investments in banking, shipping companies, railways, the metallurgical industry, cement manufacturing… Fervent Catalanist, and conservative monarchist at the same time, he was a patron of all kind of cultural activities, and friend and main client of the brilliant architect Antoni Gaudí.

KB: What does Antoni Gaudi mean to Barcelona?

During the 19th century, Catalan architects, intellectuals and the bourgeoisie encouraged the creation of a national architecture, which would match the country’s identity and uniqueness. This movement would evolve throughout the century from Historicism to Modernism (Art Nouveau). Gaudí appears in this movement as a brilliant and exceptional figure. Inspired by mythology, religion and nature, he creates absolutely original forms and architectural solutions, which he materializes with an exceptional team of skilled professionals and craftsmen, while integrating tradition with modernity. His works have become a symbol and reference for Barcelona.

KB: Describe the exterior facade of Palau Güell?

The facade is intentionally asymmetrical and is organized around two large catenary portals, surrounded by wrought iron snakes, crowned with the initials E and G of Eusebi Güell, and separated by a drum with the Catalan flag, with a Phoenix on the top, the country’s symbol. All of the Building is made with the same stone from the Garraf mountains, but the colors and textures of it differ because of a diferent treatment of the stone.

It is built on three overlapping vertical levels, so that the windows on the ground floor also illuminate and ventilate the stables in the basement, while on the main floor a very wide tribune protrudes, in polished stone, supported by 21 corbels. The upper level corresponds to the second and third floors, with a buxard stone finish. On the second floor there are five windows flanked by two balconies that cap the upper part of the stands on the lower floor. The roof rail is finished with battlements. The central battlement shows the date of the building’s inauguration, 1888, made with a script reminiscent of a ball of thread.

KB: Why did the guests arrived in horse-drawn carriages when they visited the mansion?

At the end of the 19th Century, Barcelona was a very crowded town, and it was growing very fast towards the nearest towns of Sants, Sarrià, Gràcia, Horta and Sant Andreu. Every wealthy family had at least one big house in one of this villages. Barcelona downtown was a dangerous social melting pot, and higher class people always moved by carriage inside it. When Eusebi Güell died in 1918, three horses lived in the Palau Güell stables: an old mare, called Valkiria, and two young horses, Orange and Ostende. In the coach house, there were five carriages: a sedan, a landon, a coupé and two victories, in addition to two Hispano-Suiza cars, a Landaulet and a Cabriolet H.-S. In the estate of Santa Coloma de Cervelló, he also had a racing car.

KB: When did Palau Güell become part of UNESCO?

1984

KB: What does the title UNESCO World Heritage site mean to Palau Güell?

In 1984, UNESCO inscribed Palau Güell on the World Heritage List, together with Park Güell and Casa Milà, within the series called “Architectural Works of Gaudí”. Later, in 2005, the declaration was expanded with the incorporation of the Nativity facade and the crypt of the Sagrada Família, Casa Vicens, Casa Batlló and the crypt of Colonia Güell, and was renamed ” Works of Antoni Gaudí”.

The Palau Güell shows how Gaudí knew how to find solutions to the challenges that arose with the commission he received from Eusebi Güell and how he knew how to give an effective and extraordinarily beautiful response. In other words, Gaudí, with his architectural innovations, managed to turn necessity into a virtue. It is precisely in this virtue that the essence of exceptional universal value is found.

The fact of being qualified as PM, turns us into a showcase through which we can contribute to explaining Gaudí’s work, as well as the personality and the role played in it by his great patron, Eusebi Güell, in the same time that allows us to make known, to local and foreign audiences, a very important moment in the History of Barcelona and Catalonia, that allows us to explain what we are today.

On the other hand, the obligation to preserve the values of the monument obliges us, following UNESCO guidelines, to guarantee its conservation, dissemination and a rational and sustainable use.

KB: The UNESCO has certain criterias to make the World Heritage List. What criteria did Palau Güell had to fulfill to be on the list?

In order to assess whether a property really has outstanding universal value and should be inscribed on the List, the Guidelines establish the criteria on which the Committee must base its decision, which must also take into account account the consultative organizations that first assess the candidacies and make a recommendation to the Committee. In the case of cultural heritage, the first assessment is made by the International Council of Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) and six criteria are applied, of which at least one must be met. For the Works of Antoni Gaudí, it was considered that the following are met:

I. Representing a masterpiece of human creative genius.

II. Witness a considerable exchange of influences during a given period or in a given cultural area, on the development of architecture or technology, monumental arts, city planning or the creation of landscapes.
V. Offer an outstanding example of a type of construction or an architectural or technological ensemble or landscape that illustrates a significant period or periods of human history.

In the Works of Antoni Gaudí case, they are specified as follows:

I “Antoni Gaudí’s work constitutes an extraordinary and exceptional creative contribution to the development of architecture and construction technology at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.”

II. “Gaudi’s works show an important exchange of values closely linked to the cultural and artistic currents of his time, represented by Catalan Modernism. He anticipated and influenced many of the forms and techniques that were relevant to the development of modern construction in the 20th century.”

V. “Gaudi’s work represents a series of exceptional examples of the construction typology of early 20th century architecture, both residential and public, to the development of which he contributed creatively in a significant way.”

KB: Which series, movies or documentaries has Palau Güell appeared in?

The Palau Güell has been the set of several films, series and documentaries, among which stands out The Passenger, by Michelangelo Antonioni (1975. Original title: Professione: reporter), with Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider. He also has a special role in the Japanese documentary about Gaudí Shiba Toshio Maya Kyouko fusai Supein no tabi, with Kyôko Maya and Toshio Shiba (2008).

KB: Describe to the RSR readers what they would see visiting Palau Güell.

Two large catenary arches, with wrought iron fence and decoration, give access to the main entrance of Palau Güell. In the large hall, covered by almost flat Catalan vaults, the entrance and exit of carriages and a large staircase leading to the main floor of the building converge, as well as doors to the service areas. This lobby is configured as a large interior facade. Behind is the garage, and a ramp that leads to the stables, which are in the basement and are covered with billet pillars and vaults that are the predecessors of other similar spaces designed by Gaudí.

Returning to the entrance hall, the main staircase ascends to a mezzanine, directly to a large stained glass window depicting the Catalan flag and decorated with small wrought iron roses. To the right, there are Eusebi Güell’s office and library, which are currently not open to visitors, and to the left, a large waiting room, from which another staircase leads to the main floor. On top of it, on the right, a gigantic painting by Aleix Clapés, Hercules Discovering the Esperides, juxtaposed with a large mural by the same painter, which was on the exterior side facade at the same height, depicting Hercules setting fire to the Pyrenees.

The main floor was intended for social representation, with a more public area on the street side, and another more private one on the interior side. In the latter, there was a tripartite but contiguous lounge, with a space for music, a smoking room and the dining room, as well as an interior courtyard, a billiards room and a walkway to the house they had on La Rambla.

On the street side, a series of rooms with richly decorated ceilings and access to a large tribune overlooking the street, gave access to the central space of the house, a large hall covered with a dome that was used as a chapel and as a party and concert hall, depending on the occasion, decorated with paintings by Clapés. The grand organ in this hall is programmed to automatically play a different tune from the period, every half hour. A staircase climbs to the music gallery, and from there to the upper floor, where the family bedrooms are distributed around the big hall, allowing to see and hear everything there. A living room is decorated with a fireplace that features a wonderful marble bas-relief by Alexandre de Riquer, depicting Queen Elizabeth of Hungary spinning. The most richly decorated room, with wrought iron and gilding, was the bedroom of the lady of the house, Isabel López Bru. There is a small display of modernist furniture and you can also see the private bathrooms.

On the roof, the large spire that covers the dome, covered with fragments of vitrified lime kiln, culminates in a comb with a bat and a drum, referred to in an ancient legend. Around it, there are twenty chimneys, some of which were for ventilation. Restored by contemporary artists, they correspond to Gaudí’s first use of the so-called trencadís technique.

KB: Why should people visit Palau Güell?

Because it is really unique, a work where the architect had a total creative freedom and unlimited means. And because it is the best way to understand how Gaudí deployed his talent and idees.

For more information please visit Palau Güell’s website: HERE

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